This invention relates in general to vehicle wheels and in particular to an improved structure for a high offset full face vehicle wheel adapted for use in a high offset dual vehicle wheel assembly.
A conventional dual vehicle wheel assembly includes a pair of vehicle wheels which are secured to a rear axle flange of an associated vehicle for supporting a pair of tires in a side-by-side relationship. Basically, there are four main types of rear dual vehicle wheels for light, medium, or heavy duty vehicles, namely xe2x80x9cfabricatedxe2x80x9d dual wheels, xe2x80x9cforgedxe2x80x9d dual wheels, cast aluminum dual is wheels, and xe2x80x9ccombinationxe2x80x9d dual wheels.
A conventional fabricated dual wheel includes an inner wheel and an outer wheel which are connected together to form the dual wheel. Each of the associated inner and outer wheels is of a two-piece construction and includes an inner wheel disc and an outer wheel rim. The wheel disc is fabricated from steel, and includes a centrally located wheel mounting surface. The wheel mounting surface is provided with a center pilot or hub hole, and a plurality of lug receiving holes for mounting the wheel to an axle of the vehicle. The wheel rim is fabricated from steel, and includes an inboard tire bead seat retaining flange, an inboard tire bead seat, an axially extending well. an outboard tire bead seat, and an outboard tire bead seat retaining flange. The wheel disc and the wheel rim are joined together during a welding operation in one of two manners. Either, the wheel disc is joined to the wheel rim in the region of the bead seat to produce a xe2x80x9cbead-seat attachedxe2x80x9d wheel, or the wheel disc is welded to the wheel rim in the region of the well to produce a xe2x80x9cdrop well attachedxe2x80x9d wheel. Then, the inner wheel and outer wheel are disposed with their discs adjacent one another and with the lug holes of each aligned so that lug bolts can extend through the holes to secure the inner and outer wheels to the axle.
A full face vehicle wheel is distinguished from other types of vehicle wheels by having a one-piece wheel disc construction. In particular, the full face wheel includes a xe2x80x9cfull facexe2x80x9d wheel disc and a xe2x80x9cpartialxe2x80x9d wheel rim. The full face wheel disc can be cast, forged, or fabricated from steel, aluminum, or other alloys. The full face wheel disc includes an inner annular wheel mounting portion and an outer annular portion which defines at least a portion of an outboard tire bead seat retaining flange of the vehicle wheel. The wheel mounting portion of the full face wheel disc defines an inboard mounting surface and includes a center pilot or hub hole, and a plurality of lug receiving holes formed therethrough for mounting the vehicle wheel to an axle of the vehicle. The partial wheel rim is fabricated from steel, aluminum, or other alloys, and includes an inboard tire bead seat retaining flange, an inboard tire bead seat, an axially extending well, and an outboard tire bead seat. In some instances, the outboard tire bead seat of the wheel rim and the outer annular portion of the disc cooperate to form the outboard tire bead seat retaining flange of the full face wheel. In both types of constructions, the outboard tire bead seat of the wheel rim is positioned adjacent the outer annular portion of the wheel disc and a weld is applied at the tire side of the vehicle wheel assembly to secure the wheel rim and the wheel disc together.
A full face vehicle wheel usually used on single wheel applications is of a xe2x80x9clow offsetxe2x80x9d design. The term low offset as used herein refers to the distance that the wheel mounting flange of the full face wheel disc is located axially away from the center of the wheel rim. Applicants have discovered that using a full face vehicle wheel in a xe2x80x9chigh offsetxe2x80x9d dual vehicle wheel application, present certain problems concerning customer specifications for fatigue load due to the high offset loads which are produced when using the pair of full face vehicle wheels in a high offset dual vehicle wheel application.
The present invention relates to an improved structure for a pair of full face vehicle wheels which are adapted for use in a high offset dual vehicle wheel assembly. Each of the full face vehicle wheels defines an axis and includes a wheel rim and a full face wheel disc. The wheel rim includes an outboard tire bead seat retaining flange, an outboard tire bead seat, a generally axially extending well, and an inboard tire bead seat surface. The wheel disc includes a body having a centrally located wheel mounting flange and an outer annular portion. The outer annular portion of the wheel disc defines an inboard tire bead seat retaining flange of full face vehicle wheel. The wheel mounting flange of the wheel disc is located wholly outside a plane defined by the inboard tire bead seat retaining flange. The inboard tire bead seat is provided with a radially in-turned flange. The in-turned flange includes a generally radially inwardly sloping surface, a generally radially extending surface, and an axially extending surface. When the radially extending surface of the in-turned flange is positioned against an adjacent inner surface of the inboard tire bead seat retaining flange of the wheel disc, a recess is formed between the inwardly sloping surface of the in-turned flange and the inner surface of inboard tire bead seat retaining flange, and a welding area is formed between the axially extending surface of the in-turned flange and the inner surface of inboard tire bead seat retaining flange. The recess defines an axially extending groove for receiving a first weld, and the welding area defines an area for receiving a second weld. The first and second welds cooperate to join the wheel rim. and wheel disc together and produce the full face vehicle wheel. As a result, a xe2x80x9cvalue addedxe2x80x9d dual vehicle wheel assembly is provided having increased styling variation compared to a conventional (i.e., non-full face) dual vehicle wheel assembly.